standing start

16 sep

race day... finished in 2h:19m:05s

click for pics

14 sep

i wonder if this is what it feels like to be on death row? route commentary with neil heath put on BBC website. click on link to view it

13 sep

have undergone an enforced pre-race 'taper' as it took some time for my cricket sorness to wear off. race won't be pretty

9 sep

great finish to the cricket season, making 63* this time. lots of running between wickets and also wicketkept 40 overs so feeling very sore afterwards.

8 sep

good day at cricket. 67 runs and 2-22 from 6 overs. did worsen blister on left foot though

7 sep

an hour of five-a-side football. ended up with blisters for second week in a row. pack for race arrived in the post!

6 sep

25-min run/walk. things looking pretty bleak for the race and have just written my final blog for the BBC website in this depressed mood!

5 sep

rest day

4 sep

20-min run/walk. running outside is SO much harder than the treadmill

3 sep

30-min run/walk

31 aug

five-a-side football

29 aug

gym: treadmill 35 mins

28 aug

does 10-pin bowling count as exercise?

24 aug

cricket vs arnold. short innings and bowled about four overs i think

24 aug

five-a-side football

23 aug

sore achilles again

22 aug

gym: 45-min treadmill covering 7km

21 aug

nothin'

20 aug

gym: 20-min treadmill, (had to stop early unexpectedly due to unrelated matters)

19 aug

gym: 30-min treadmill, covering 5km

18 aug

rest

17 aug

five-a-side football @ meadow lane

16 aug

rest day

15 aug

gym: 33-min treadmill, covering 5.6km

14 aug

rest... achilles sore from yesterday

13 aug

gym: 60-min on treadmill, covering 10km... very pleased with this. felt like i pushed through boredom barrier and really enjoyed last 20 mins. longest i've run

12 aug

nothing... too busy

11 aug

good day at cricket... team won and i managed some runs, a stumping and three wickets for one run from 4.3 overs

10 aug

rest day

9 aug

17-min run/walk... awfully tired for some reason and bad achilles pain. i am a dead man!

8 aug

rest day

7 aug

gym treadmill: 5km - 31 min

6 aug

gym swim: 15 min

5 aug

gym treadmill: 7km - 46 min

4 aug

cricket v gedling.... first decent innings all season, batting for about 90 mins and wicketkeeping, so gave myself break from running

3 aug

15-min morning jog. proper run in the evening never materilaised!

2 aug

20-min run/walk. back from just over two weeks off in japan and time to completely hit the panic button

12 july

13-min light run/walk. very far behind where i should be and about to spend two weeks in japan where more running will be tough. do notice i can run a bit longer than when i started, but looking at that half marathon route today was very scary!

11 july

23-min run/walk

10 july

cricket 18-over-a-side game

9 july

about half an hour ruuning (bit of walking) from home to work and back

7 july

after long period of being busy and sick, went for 90-min walk with small amount of running (walked so long because got lost in oxford)

27 jun

15-min run

26 jun

gym (treadmill 15 mins, row 5 mins)

25 jun

away

24 jun

away

23 jun

16-min run

20 to 22
jun

work, including an 18-hour shift on the 21st, so generally too knackered for any running

19 jun

16-min continuous run

14 to 18
jun

away for birthday

13 jun

gym (treadmill: 30 mins) felt like i could have run longer but too bored

12 jun

didn't feel fit enough to train - shoulder still sore

11 jun

in london/oxford for weekend - must start exercising again though knee is still quite troublesome

10 jun

in london/oxford for weekend - knee still very bad

9 jun

in london/oxford for weekend - woke up with seriously painful right knee

8 jun

gym (treadmill: 30 mins)

7 jun

away for work

6 jun

away for work

5 jun

away for work

4 jun

away for work

3 jun

another 40 overs behind stumps and another win at cricket. have started weighing myself in mornings now rather than evenings. think it will be more consistent

2 jun

cricket. wicketkept another 45 overs (and again didn't expend too much energy batting) and we notched another good win. think night out on the beers was a bigger work out than cricket though!

1 jun

15-min run checking out new (more undulating) surroundings at new home

31 may

gym (treadmill: 15 mins then about 20 mins in the shower - ha ha!)

30 may

gym (treadmill: 30 mins mainly running with couple of short walks)

29 may

five-a-side football

28 may

more house moving stuff - promise that is last day i will use that excuse. now living out of town and further from gym so will have to be more organised with my exercise plans

27 may

house moving stuff

26 may

cricket. wicketkept 40 overs and we had a good win

25 may

moving day - so plenty of heavy lifting at least!

24 may

gym (row: 10 mins, treadmill 10 mins) started getting sore ankles, sins and heels while running

23 may

rest

22 may

five-a-side football

21 may

gym (swim: 15 mins)

20 may

cricket. did not do as much as yesterday though. bowled three overs. won game

19 may

cricket at newark. wicket-kept, bowled six overs and bit of a bat. lost game

18 may

gym (treadmill: 30 mins) first try on treadmill and found it much less ardous than real running

17 may

brief cricket training. gym (row: 10 mins, strider: 10 mins)

16 may

gym (cycle: 10 mins, row: 10 mins, swim: 10 mins)

15 may

very busy today and tonight , but did quickly go and jog up and down the stairs in my apartment building for 10 mins!

14 may

10 mins run (intended 20 but stopped with tendon pain) will try again tomorrow i hope

13 may

away in helsinki

12 may

away in helsinki

11 may

away in helsinki

10 may

gym (cycling: 10 mins, stider: 10 mins)

9 may

two 10-min continuous runs (with 30 mins in between to watch a mate play football at the city ground). feel ready for slightly longer runs now

8 may

rest (well, away in manchester for ruby awards with no training kit... so got blind drunk instead)

7 may

rest day

6 may

cricket at papplewick. 40 overs wicketkeeping and short innings of 10. copped nasty ball to chin behind stumps & we lost

5 may

cricket at thrumpton. wicketkept despire bad leg and seemed to get away with it

4 may

20-min swim. but that quad strain badly aggravated at five-a-side football 30 mins into the game tonight

3 may

20-min interval run (2-min run 1-min walk). felt a bit stronger than earlier and shoes seemed to delay the onset of pain in ankles. hour at cricket practice.

2 may

day of due to injured leg. really hope it's better tomorrow. have posted my first video on the site here instead. click on link to the right

1 may

about 50-min five-a-side football. slight strain to right quadricep i think. must not be warming up properly. again stops me running tonight

30 apr

rested after picking up minor niggles at cricket yesterday. did buy better running shoes however after proper assessment with expert

29 apr

more cricket, away at newark for a thrilling sunday league game which we won in the last over. fielded for 40 overs and bowled six. have strained a muscle which i'm told might be an abductor... was going to run tonight but couldn't due to strain

28 apr

cricket at radcliffe. didn't bat but wicketkept for 40 overs

27 apr

rest day

26 apr

20-min interval run (2-min run 1-min walk). ankles and heels hurt quite a lot. also cricket training for a little over an hour

25 apr

should have run today but didn't (because i wanted to watch australia play cricket and heel hurt a bit). went to gym instead (cycling: 15 min, striding machine: 10 min) worked up fair sweat but don't feel i got heart rate up enough

24 apr

five-a-side football for an hour

23 apr

back at gym now that administrative bungle with membership is sorted. 17-min swim, 20-min cycling

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22 apr

as expected, cricket left me pretty sore... also bruised hands from keeping. however i pushed through pain barrier for 20-minute interval run (2-min run 2-min walk) down by the trent. shins and feet hurt a bit

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21 apr

first game with radcliffe on trent cricket club (trial match vs loughborough grammar). fair work-out wicketkeeping... bet my legs and back hurt tomorrow

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20 apr

rest day - and pigged out at bbq

19 apr

funny old day. see pics and extended diary entry by clicking on shoe! circumstances saw me run at midnight. 21-minute 'interval run'. upped ante to 2-min run vs 1-min walk

18 apr

one hour net session at cricket practice... dunno if it was good excercise, but certainly worked up a sweat batting in pads and helmet for about 20 mins... very warm in there

17 apr

supposed to be rest day, but opted for an hour of five-a-side football with the guys... some might argue i was having a rest day anyway due to my lack of tracking back. ha ha!

16 apr

another 20 mins run/walk (alternating 1-min run 1-min walk). seems to result in sore feet, but think that is because the running impact is still unfamiliar

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15 apr

20 mins run/walk (alternating 1-min run 1-min walk). definitely enjoy the walking minutes more than the running at this stage. went for this run down at the new cricket club at radcliffe so i could check out the surroundings

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14 apr

semi rest day. gym: 10 mins rowing and 10 mins cycling. am following all the rules and expert advice that say start training gently... like i have a choice!

13 apr

20 mins run/walk (alternating 1-min run 1-min walk). made me realise i am very very very far from being able to run 13 miles non-stop!

12 apr

rest day, which is handy as heel seems bruised from too much bowling at cricket. do have my first running magazine though (a gift i might add... not started buying them yet!)

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11 apr

hour-long net session for new cricket club, radcliffe-on-trent. cricket SOOOO much more enjoyable than gym... nevertheless, gym: 20 mins cycling

10 apr

officially signed on for the race. bought running shoes and scales (so i can see if all this excercise makes any difference). gym: 20 mins rowing and 10 mins cycling

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9 apr

consumed the last supper - a final mcdonald's

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